International Journal of Environmental Planning and Management

Vol. 2, No. 2, 2016, pp. 6-14

http://www.aiscience.org/journal/ijepm

ISSN: 2381-7240 (Print); ISSN: 2381-7259 (Online)

* Corresponding author

E-mail address: bafana_20@yahoo.com (M. A. Shaleh)

Local Understanding of Forest Conservation in Land Use Change Dynamics: Evidence from the Orang Asli Jakun Community Living in Tropical Peat Swamp Forest, Pahang, Malaysia

Muhammad Adha Shaleh1, *, Miriam Karen Guth2, Syed Ajijur Rahman3, 4, 5

1Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Kulliyyah of Islamic Revealed Knowledge and Human Sciences, International Islamic University of

Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 2Roland Close, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom

3Department of Food and Resource Economics, Section of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Copenhagen, Frederiksberg, Denmark

4School of Environment, Natural Resources and Geography, Bangor University, Bangor, United Kingdom

5Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), Bogor, West Java, Indonesia

Abstract

The success of local forest conservation program depends on a critical appreciation of local communities. Based on this

understanding, the present study aims to explore people’s perspective of forest conservation in a context of changes in their living

landscape at South East Pahang Peat Swamp Forest (SEPPSF), Malaysia. Nine in-depth interviews were conducted with Orang

Asli Jakun living in SEPPSF using open-ended questions. Local communities have positive perspectives toward the forest

conservation program, despite massive environmental changes in their living landscape. This study suggests that a successful

forest conservation program in SEPPSF will require an in-depth understanding of the Jakun people livelihood and their needs in

their living environment. Findings from this study provided an avenue for future researchers to carry out studies of the

relationship between the Jakun people and SEPPSF.

Keywords

Peat Swamp Forest, Orang Asli Jakun, Forest Conservation, Community

Received: June 7, 2016 / Accepted: June 19, 2016 / Published online: July 15, 2016

@ 2016 The Authors. Published by American Institute of Science. This Open Access article is under the CC BY license.

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

1. Introduction

Previous studies on various forest conservation programs and

their importance from the perspectives of forest communities

have been vividly documented [1, 2]. The discussion on

people’s perspectives toward the design of forest conservation

activities are ubiquitous in the literature, and scholars have

marked them as a key component for the success of forest

conservation projects [3, 4]. Considering this, many scholars

have contributed to the debates on what makes forest

conservation attractive to local communities. Some

researchers have emphasized exploring people understanding

on activities that are responsible for environmental change [5,

6, 7], while others have given evidence to the positive

perceptions of forest conservation which is one of the key

drivers of the success of forest conservation activities [8, 7, 2].

In hindsight, community based conservation projects should

be viewed by each forest stakeholder as a collective choice

bound to the question of how local communities view their

environment. This is because the role of communities in forest

conservation have been integral to policy makers, when it

comes to human relationships with forest and its ecosystems,

7 Muhammad Adha Shaleh et al.: Local Understanding of Forest Conservation in Land Use Change Dynamics: Evidence from

the Orang Asli Jakun Community Living in Tropical Peat Swamp Forest, Pahang, Malaysia

and why this relationship is important in forest conservation

[9]. In many countries, where a simple formula to forest

conservation is solely based on government responsibility, the

debates regarding community based forest conservation are

bordered around the quintessential meaning of community,

who shares conservation norms, and who holds common

interests regarding forest conservation. This understanding of

community is integral to the pursuit of community-based

forest conservation, in which the positive effects on resource

conservation is determined by a set of community

perspectives toward the environment [9].

Hence, people’s perspectives appear to be crucial to forest

conservation at local levels. In countries whereby community

roles in forest care is not a popular practice, the participation

of local people in decision-making regarding forest

conservation should be considered by researchers, funders,

project negotiators and governments. This concern for the

critical role of local communities’ perspectives should be seen

as driver to negotiate common agreements about resource

management. When members of the community believe in

shared norms (e.g. the need for land to be conserved), they will

produce cooperative decisions for this particular purpose, and

cooperate with project developers for resource conservation

[10, 11]. Furthermore, the presence of community-shared

norms means that they have shared beliefs that lubricate

collective behaviours in resource conservation [9]. In contrast,

if peoples’ views on their living landscape centred on the

discourse that inclined towards the exploitation of forest

resources, then there is a strong communal norm that decrees a

communal action for land clearance for agriculture [11, 12].

In the context of South East Pahang Peat Swamp Forest

(SEPPSF), which accounts for 60 percent of the total forest

cover in the Malaysian peninsula, commercial agriculture has

been seen to be dominated by land use practice in the area in

the 1970s and 1980s, the time when forest conversion to

agriculture reached its peak in the Malaysian Peninsula [10,

12, 13]. Today, as the pursuit to promote agricultural

development is seen as the major contributor to the Malaysia’s

economy, SEPPSF land areas have been converted to

agricultural development [14].

The Orang Asli Jakun are the indigenous people who live in

the tropical South East Pahang Peat Swamp Forest [15].

General understanding about the livelihood of these people in

the past can be associated to the livelihoods of hunting and

gathering societies. Fish1 and wild animals were the Jakun

people typical diet. Jakun people collect rattan and medicinal

plants from the forest2, and clear few acres of forest land for

1 Such as baung and keli (catfish), is a source of diet for the Jakun people living

along the river of SEPPSF.

2 For example, kacip fatimah is a popular herbs used to treat pre and post

menopause.

their own cultivation [15, 16]. However, those lifestyles are

slowly diminishing because of the modernization of Peat

Swamp Forest that is gradually opening up the road to oil palm

plantations. The conversion of forest to oil palm plantations is

immense, and its implications on the local communities are

massive, including the government scheme to relocate local

communities to a permanent non-traditional settlements [10,

17]. In the aftermath of relocation away from their original

living landscapes, the Jakun people have been assimilated into

modernity, working as wage labor and odd job, in which both

are not traditional to the Jakun [18]. However, some of the

Jakun people who avoided assimilation have kept their

traditional lifestyle, although they now have to travel deeper

into the forest to collect rattan due to the scarcity of forest

products resulting from deforestation [17].

Although, the Jakun traditional lifestyle has changed due to

modernization, it does not necessarily mean that all of them

have stopped utilizing forest resources from the Peat Swamp

Forest. Still they need food from forest to fulfill their dietary

needs and collect traditional medicine derived from tropical

herbs, which highlights the importance of forest conservation

as its effects the livelihood of the Jakun people [10, 17].

Therefore, this study aims to explore the meaning of forest

conservation from the Orang Asli Jakun people perspectives

and their reflection on the changes in the living landscape of

South East Pahang Peat Swamp Forest (SEPPSF), Malaysia.

2. Materials and Methods

2.1. Study Site

The South East Pahang Peat Swamp Forest (SEPPSF) covers

approximately 200,000 ha of land, accounting for 60% of the

total forest coverage in the Malaysia’s peninsula [13, 19].

Considered the largest wetland forest in Malaysia, its rich

ecosystem is crucial to the survival of thousands of endangered

species, its hydrological system and flora and fauna. Due to its

ecological richness combined with rich storage of non-timber

forest products (NTFP) and the opening of commercial

plantations, SEPPSF provides different functions to different

stakeholders. Hence, an integrated management plan has

become a key discussion to policy makers working on

sustainable forest management issues [14].

Regarding the land management of the Peat Swamp Forest,

the Pahang Forestry Department in collaboration with the

United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the

Global Environment Facility (GEF) have published an

Integrated Management Plan (IMP) of the South East Pahang

Peat Swamp Forest. The 230 page document consists of

initiatives that were thought out by several government

agencies, scientists and community representatives, leading

International Journal of Environmental Planning and Management Vol. 2, No. 2, 2016, pp. 6-14 8

the way towards forest conservation strategies [14].

The IMP served as an opening gate for this study on

socio-ecological perspectives of the SEPPSF, which aims at

giving an overview of policies concerning the management of

the SEPPSF.

Figure 1. Research site (marked with red circle) at South East Pahang Peat

Swamp Forest area. Map and photo © 2016 Google.

2.2. Research Methods

In-depth interviews were conducted as a principal method in

this study that examined the Jakun communities’ perspectives

on topics pertaining to changes in the local environment and

ecological significance of SEPPSF. In total, nine respondents

were selected using purposive sampling. An open-ended

interview questionnaire was used to get richer answers from

the respondents. As opposed to a close ended survey method,

an open ended questionnaire allowed respondents to express

opinions freely [20].

Each interview was recorded and transcribed, then coded by

summarizing enormous narratives to elicit meanings from the

data. Analyses were carried out to capture respondent

understanding in relation to changes in their living landscape.

The analytical concern was to identify commonalities in

respondent experience on local environment and forest

conservation. Findings from the interviews were supported by

the inclusion of regular verbatim in which the words coalesced

with respondents’ experiences with the living landscape of the

SEPPSF.

The lead researcher (first author of this paper) selected the

respondents based on his knowledge of the SEPPSF and the

people living around the SEPPSF. All interviewed Jakun

lived around oil palm plantation, and they used to go to the

forest to search for forest products. Even though they are not

frequent visitors of the forest in the current time, their

opinions were derived from past visits and were crucial to the

formation of thoughts on forest conservation.

While respondents did not have formal education, some of

them went through primary schools, and at the time of

research, they were relying on wage labor for source of

livelihood (Table 1). The diverse backgrounds of different

respondents have been collected in line with the key feature

of qualitative research, which is the contextualization of

constellation of respondents’ insights, reflections and ideas

according to a specific socio-ecological setting.

The approach taken to analyse the data was primarily thematic.

The concern was to identify commonalities and differences in

the experiences and views of the respondents. The responses of

9 Muhammad Adha Shaleh et al.: Local Understanding of Forest Conservation in Land Use Change Dynamics: Evidence from

the Orang Asli Jakun Community Living in Tropical Peat Swamp Forest, Pahang, Malaysia

respondents were carefully organized, described, analysed and

interpreted. This process helped the researcher to get

respondents’ in depth descriptions of SEPPSF, its living

landscape and the significance of forest conservation.

Table 1. Respondents’ profile at SEPPSF1.

Name Age Gender Marital

status Education Occupation

Pak Amat 62 Male Married Nil Rattan collector,

fisherman

Pak Long 70 Male Married Nil Not working

Achai 38 Male Married Primary school Driver

Ithar 37 Female Married Nil Craft maker

Limah 23 Female Married Nil Not working

Azlee 30 Male Married Primary school Odd Job

Tony 40 Male Married Primary school Not working

Jusoh 45 Male Married Nil Rattan collector,

Fisherman

Hisham 39 Male Married Primary school Driver

3. Results

3.1. Changes in the Living Landscape

All respondents have indicated that their local environment

already went through a massive transformation as the result of

land conversion to palm oil plantation. They provided strong

ground to illustrate that local communities have less access to the

forest for their livelihoods. For example, a man who used to go to

the SEPPSF described what he knew about the changes there:

“The conversions of our forest to palm oil plantation have

resulted in the changes to our living landscape. People have

been detached from traditional livelihood. It is rare to see

people going to the forest to search for food nowadays.”

Regarding traditional livelihood, and what it meant to local

communities around the SEPPSF in the past, a man who used

to accompany his father to the forest said:

“In the past, most of the locals were depended on forest,

they used to go to the forest to collect rattan, they cultivated

tapioca2

and those sources are crucial to the local

livelihoods. But today, local communities have less access

to the forest to collect rattan. They have also restricted

doing traditional cultivation.”

A woman who understands the forest by her passion, because

of her dependency on it in the past, agreed to the changes in

the landscape she lives in. She believed that her present living

environment, where she lives in a house made from bricks is a

sample of changes in the living landscape of Jakun people.

She said:

“Things in the forest have changed and many people have

1 Name of the respondents are pseudonyms to protect their real identity as the

research ethics. 2 Tapioca is a starch extracted from cassava root.

adapted to modern life, they go to work, they live in houses

made by bricks.”

All respondents stridently asserted that the locals have to

follow the trend of changes so they will not be left behind.

Although the rattans can still be found in the forest, the Jakun

communities are not attracted to the traditional way of life

anymore. Many respondents expressed that only few people

now want to collect rattan in the forest. An old man who goes

to forest for leisure expressed his perspectives on the changes

in the Jakun communities’ livelihood in the following way:

“I go to the forest for few days then I come back to the

house that government made for me. When I’m in the forest,

I see many of the trees have been cleared for palm oil.

Today circumstances have changed. People have to take

driving license, so they can drive truck, drive bus, to make a

living. My friends have left their old job as a rattan collector.

Most of the locals who live around the forest are adopting

with the modern life. They live by the money given by the

government.”

Aside from the fact that all respondents generally associated

the changes in the living environment with massive

conversions of land, they also pointed to the government

resettlement scheme as another factor that caused changes to

people’s livelihood. In this context, all respondents said ‘we

received dividend every month’. A man, the beneficiary of the

scheme, who had lived in SEPPSF for 20 years said: ‘Monthly

dividends help villagers to cover the cost of daily expenses’.

The man below enthusiastically expressed his thought on the

monthly dividend and changes in living landscape.

“The locals are receiving RM800 every month. They do not

have to go to the forest. Why would they go to the forest,

when they can stay home and already get easy money?

Government is helping the local communities, so people

have no problem if the government takes the land and

change our living landscape as long as they help our life.

Although the forest has been cleared to give way to oil palm

development, and despite that I love to see more forest, I

also want good life. Changes in our village landscape are

giving a positive result to local people.”

Figure 2. Changes of SEPPSF area. Photo © Google.

International Journal of Environmental Planning and Management Vol. 2, No. 2, 2016, pp. 6-14 10

Respondents clearly understood the prevailing changes in the

forest. They accepted the reality of livelihood they experience

today. They cited a well-observed statement about local

communities’ assimilation into current changes that affected

their life. In this context, one man said ‘since the land has been

cleared to give way to palm oil, our communities cannot

depend on the forest for living. We have to follow current

trend to stay on track’

While nearly all respondents who have seen changes in the

forest demonstrated strong observations on changes in their

landscape, livelihood, and although most respondents reacted

positively to current changes, and shared positive perspectives

regarding the benefits from land conversions, some

respondents made exceptional comments. The following

respondents spoke about the need to keep some land for the

purpose of a community plantation project. A man said:

“Before our land was taken, this area was a forest area, it is

filled with rubber plantations, pineapple farms and this area

used to be filled with orchards. When the government took

over the land, all things gone. In my opinion, it would be

nice if some lands are left for the local communities, so they

can cultivate what they used to plant.”

With respect to this concern, many respondents put forward a

slew of negative reflections on the massive changes in the

Jakun living landscape. Another man, who is unaffiliated to

government, expressed that ‘people may not be able to enjoy

the same monetary benefit they are enjoying now, if the

government decides to stop helping the Jakun in the future.”

He believed that the Jakun communities would be better off if

they owned the land. When people own a land, they can

depend on it in the future.

“People must not too overly dependent on government’s

scheme. In order to survive in the future, people have to

have small portion of land in order to sustain livelihood in

long term. I want people to own land so they can produce

foods, consume them, or earn money from selling the

products. For example, if the Jakun families own 100 acres

of the land. We can discuss how the 100 acres of land can be

divided to each family. Each family owns 1 or 2 acres of

land to grow traditional herbs, or tapioca or corns. They can

reap the benefits from their own land.”

3.2. The Importance of Forest Conservation

The majority of respondents indicated that the forest has

declined due to land conversions, and although local

communities are not depending on the forest for a livelihood

as they did in the past, some respondents positively supported

the idea of forest conservation. One woman, a craftmaker,

stated that forest conservation is a good idea as it decrees good

action and benefits human and the environment. She said:

“Forest conservation is an important action. It encourages

people to be part of beautiful project that is important to

reverse the adverse impact of forest degradation. I believe

that forest conservation is one way for you and other young

people to explore our Peat Swamp Forest. Our forest is a

storage of knowledge. Forest conservation should be seen

as crucial to safeguard our storage from further declines.”

This positive view suggested that forest conservation is the

best strategy to protect the SEPPSF and its ecosystem.

According to all respondents, the Jakun people are

connected to their environment, regardless of what the

changes in the landscape might be. A man attested: ‘local

communities and local ecology are one entity. Forest is in

their blood. They are connected to forest, despite the

changes in living landscape.”

One passionate respondent, who described himself a nature

lover, said:

“When we identify the natural ecology in the forest, we

capture together an indigenous people environment. The

meaning of forest can be understood as the physical

environment, which is the forest, the river, animals and

plants. It can also be understood as a clinic or school or

market for people who live in the forest. For instance, there

is knowledge about surviving in the forest. We can learn

medicine from the indigenous people in the forest, who are

the masters of their own environment. They know which

leaves that can be eaten and which leaves that cannot be

eaten. They know what types of leaves that can be used as a

cure to a specific type of disease. They know what is inside

the wood and what is inside the water. If we conserve the

forest, we protect the people and the knowledge as well.”

Regarding the protection of the forest ecosystem, a man, who

frequently goes to the river at the SEPPSF for fishing, gave

credence to the significance of forest conservation for the river.

He said: “the river is an important ecological niche to some

local communities who live along the river. If you protect its

ecological function from pollution, you are saving the source

of livelihood of the Jakun who live along the river”.

He made a case to support his view on the significance of

forest conservation to the river.

“The Peat Swamp Forest offers a wide array of benefits to

some local communities. If you go to the river in the forest,

you will see many sources that are crucial to the livelihood

of some local communities. There are different types of fish

species in the river. Baung, and Keli are one of them. Some

people who go to the river catch fish for food. In the

absence of forest conservation, and the protection of our

river, our river and all the fish in the river will die.”

11 Muhammad Adha Shaleh et al.: Local Understanding of Forest Conservation in Land Use Change Dynamics: Evidence from

the Orang Asli Jakun Community Living in Tropical Peat Swamp Forest, Pahang, Malaysia

Figure 3. River at SEPPSF. Photo © Google.

These positive thoughts on forest conservation, and reflections

on the surrounding of the SEPPSF, had emerged from the

Jakun people experiences living in the current state of the

landscape. They are experiencing a huge transformation of the

forest to commercial plantation. In the aftermath of land

transformation, the Jakun had to resort to the decline of forest

resources, including rattan and plants.

Thus, many Jakun think that forest conservation project is

necessary to stem the decline of plants in the forest. A

passionate man, who used to practice traditional medicine,

corroborated: ‘Medicinal plants, for example, Tongkat Ali and

Kacip Fatimah, in the forest have importance to human health.

If no one recognizes these treasures, no one will know about

their importance. I think this is why our forest resources need

to be conserved.’

One respondent acknowledged the need for forest

conservation projects, and he was convinced by the Jakun

people experiences with forest conservation. He planned to

get locals to share their forestry knowledge with interested

participants. The essence of his support for a forest

conservation project is best crystallized by the following

comments:

“Let me perpetuate an image of forest conservation project

whereby local people participate in the planning and

designing of program that aims to educate people about our

local ecology. This type of forest conservation project will

tell people that no matter what changes to the forest

landscape, there is still way to spread message about the

significance of conservation. To me, our experiences that

we had accumulated from our years living in the Peat

Swamp Forest are essential to forest conservation activities.

Our knowledge about the forest and its ecosystem, for

example what types of herbs are suitable to plant could be

spread to people who want to know about the forest.”

An elderly man who was explicit in propounding his opinions

regarding forest conservation project strongly consolidated his

positive stance towards forest conservation: “Conservation

project should be aiming at identifying what is left in the forest

in order for young generation to learn what is in the forest”.

His positive reflections on forest conservation activities are

summed up by the following statement:

“Conservation project purposes must be something like

acknowledging our forest as a heritage. It must aims to

identify what’s in the forest. The other purpose is to make

sure that the conservation project aims to uncover what’s in

our heritage to the next generation. For instance, tree names,

this tree is for what purpose, how long it grows, that kind of

conservation project will benefit many people.”

A few statements were made to unearth mutual care about the

state of the forest. In this regard, one respondent said: “I think

I am aware of what is going on with the state of our forest and

I love to take care, or manage the forest, if I’m allowed to do

so”. A woman profoundly said: “If I am allowed to take care of

the forest I want to create garden in the forest”. She

enthusiastically talked to the lead researcher about the garden

in the forest:

“I think I want to see more plants in the forest, more flowers

grow in the forest, and like I said if I could, I would like to

transform the forest into a garden so visitors can come to

the forest and see the beauty of the garden.”

A few other respondents explicitly expressed their support to

the conservation of the Peat Swamp Forest, focusing on forest

conservation activities that are likely to benefit the locals. In

this regard, one respondent said: “Land in the forest does not

have to be conserved by letting acres of land remain

International Journal of Environmental Planning and Management Vol. 2, No. 2, 2016, pp. 6-14 12

untouchable. Conservation of land must be seen as the

cultivation of forest products that are available in the forest, so

people can get the benefits of forest conservation”. The

following are some of the ways respondents highlight the

benefits of forest conservation:

“Conservation for me is also to have my own land and for

my young generation to have their own land. They can

cultivate banana, tapioca, herbs, and so these resources are

available for them to consume, to sell and gain benefits in

the future.”

“Imagine people go to the forest surrounded by beautiful

rivers and clean streams. This is a truly an evidence of

conservation. People from within and from outside the

village can see the best part of the nature. This is what

conservation is all about.”

“By conservation, I mean I want to manage forest in careful

manner, so that it is not heavily exploited. Then we can call

visitors, so they come to enjoy the natural beauty of the

forest. This is the kind of forest conservation that is useful,

not the kind of conservation that limit activities in the

forest.”

In addition, conservation could also be aimed at creating

designated forest areas for people to cultivate and preserve

medicinal plants. In this case, conservation has to be

understood as protecting plants from extinction. On this note,

a respondent said: “My passion is to conserve all sorts of

plants in the forest that is about to extinct”. She elaborated the

importance of forest conservation in the following statement:

“I hope if there is a nice little forest remained for

conservation, we have to keep some parts of forest because

it is normal to say that there are some Orang Asli cannot

survive without forest. If there is a forest then there is rattan.

We can collect rattan for making handicrafts, rattan for

making mats, if there is no more forest, then no more rattan,

no more collection.”

Meanwhile, a few other respondents strongly believed that

forest degradation is a huge loss to the nation, to local

communities and to future generations. Their thoughts were

best illustrated by various comments:

“I always say to my children that our forests are treasures.

Our forest resources are valuable. Billions if not trillion of

treasures that signify our forest including flora & fauna that

can be found in our forest. If we destroy forests, if we do not

use forest in a structured manner, or if the forests are not

properly managed, we will lose many of the treasures at the

end.”

“Homes, schools, clinics and modern facilities are part of

the changes you can see in villages around South East

Pahang Peat Swamp Forest. Although the government had

set up for local communities modern infrastructures, and

where they live now is far away from the forest, and

surrounded by palm oil plantations. But the Orang Asli

Jakun cannot be separated from forest ecology, forest for

them is a home, they cannot break away from the place that

once was very close to them.”

4. Discussion

Findings from the Jakun interviews have indicated that the

living environment of the South East Pahang Peat Swamp

Forest (SEPPSF), and the livelihood of local people have

already changed due to multiple reasons. 1) Land conversions

to palm oil plantations, 2) government resettlement scheme,

and 3) the dividend received every month. In light of these

findings, and in the context of SEPPSF, it can be said that the

Jakun are no longer depending on the forest for livelihood as

compared to their livelihood in the past.

Although, we can see the changes of perspectives regarding

the livelihood of the Jakun in present time, we also can claim

that there were voices of concern among the Jakun regarding

environmental issues in the SEPPSF. They indicated that land

conversion is the prime reason for declining forest resources,

but at the same time, they used a similar point to express their

concern on the cost of environmental degradation, including

the nation, future generation, and local communities. These

feelings on the importance of forest conservation were

articulated in various manners during the interview, including

optimism, hope, passion and dedication. Those positive

perspectives were mired in the Jakun beliefs that are pivotal to

forest conservation programme in SEPPSF.

There are plenty of studies that explained why positive notions

of local people towards forest conservation are important for

forest conservation projects. Scholars have generated series of

discourses regarding the importance of peoples’ ideas in the

development of forest conservation activities [21, 11, 22].

Several studies indicated that it is crucial to have institutional

arrangement at the local level, including the transfer of land

ownership to local communities [23]. Involving local

communities in the forest management program is valuable

for policy makers in the tropics to facilitate a holistic forest

management paradigm [24, 10].

Considering local communities and their roles to forest

management, Agrawal and Gibson have given special

importance to the appreciation of people’s perspectives in the

design of forest conservation activities [9]. They have

unequivocally postulated a strong indication that forest

communities are the locus of community based forest

management, and the success of conservation project depends

on communal norms in which they collectively built with the

idea of conserving resources in the forest [9]. The article

13 Muhammad Adha Shaleh et al.: Local Understanding of Forest Conservation in Land Use Change Dynamics: Evidence from

the Orang Asli Jakun Community Living in Tropical Peat Swamp Forest, Pahang, Malaysia

added that people’s perspectives of forest conservation should

be comprehended as collective choices bounded by collective

interest of the people regarding what is best for their

environment. Local collective ideas could decree collective

conservation efforts because the presence of community

shared norms, means they have shared beliefs that will

underpin collective behaviours in resource conservation [9].

Findings emerged from this study have been the impetus for the

growing needs of participatory forest management, including

community forestry, community plantation program in SEPPSF,

thus, reasserting previous literature on the importance of an

in-depth understanding of a multitude of peoples’ perspectives

toward changes in forest landscapes [6, 24].

The Jakun people regard the forest as a treasure and are deeply

rooted in SEPPSF for their livelihoods. Forest landscape of

SEPPSF is a territory of knowledge, in which the knowledge

holders are the Jakun. Therefore, understanding this local

knowledge is important for the success of any conservation

efforts at SEPPSF. This is because local knowledge is a

systematic body of knowledge acquired by the local people

through the accumulation of experiences, time consuming

experimental learning, and cultural immersion in the local

environment. It has helped solve local problems and

contributed to the development of peoples’ way of life in

accordance with changing times and environment [25].

Evidence in Indonesia gave credence to this stand with regard

to the importance of community perspectives. In this regard,

communal perspectives provided a blueprint to forest planners

for an integrated land management system. Local people

provided an extensive template of the number of shrinking or

growing forests, which was useful to policy makers to plan for

holistic resource management schemes [5].

The collective statements provided by Jakun show supports

toward forest conservation activities in SEPPSF as they want

solutions for environmental degradation. Based on the insights

and ideas of Jakun, and a modicum of understanding on why

people’s perspectives matter in forest conservation program,

the authors believed that people’s perspectives are important

to consult for community-based forest management goals in

the context of SEPPSF.

5. Conclusion

The Jakun perspective towards forest conservation is

instrumental to future research on the SEPPSF and local

communities due to the following reasons:

� To avoid pitfalls of conservation project due to a lack of

appreciation for local livelihoods, conservation planners

have to accede to local communities’ experiences and

insights toward the local surroundings.

� For the community-based forest conservation program to

meet its goals, it is important to understand whether the

Jakun people share the same goals with policy makers.

� People’s perspectives are instrumental to different

stakeholders who have different needs in the forest. Thus,

understanding such perspectives can help all stakeholders

in terms of the development of broader understanding of

local land and resource use patterns.

Exploring these underlying issues can give future researchers

a holistic understanding of the socio-ecological relationship of

the Jakun people in the SEPPSF. It is important to note that in

a context where participatory forest management is not a

popular practice, local communities alone cannot be

effectively involved in forest conservation activities, neither

can the government provide complete solution to

environmental degradation. Both the affected communities

and the government have the rights to manage forest, and both

are the key stakeholders of the forest. In this regard, both the

Jakun community and government involvement is crucial to

initiating collaborative forest management program in the

SEPPSF.

Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to Professor Zehadul Karim for his

courage and scientific support for this study. The authors are

also thankful to JAKOA for their approval to conduct field work

in the SEPPSF. Special thanks are for the Jakun community for

their hospitality, time and kindness to support this study.

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